Presidential elections were held in the United States from November 4 to December 7, 1808. The Democratic-Republican candidate James Madison defeated Federalist candidate Charles Cotesworth Pinckney decisively.

Madison had served as Secretary of State since President Thomas Jefferson took office in 1801. Jefferson, who had declined to run for a third term, threw his strong support behind Madison, a fellow Virginian. Sitting Vice President George Clinton and former Ambassador James Monroe both challenged Madison for leadership of the party, but Madison won his party's nomination and Clinton was renominated as vice president. The Federalists chose to re-nominate Pinckney, a former ambassador who had served as the party's 1804 nominee, again alongside Rufus King.

Despite the unpopularity of the Embargo Act of 1807, Madison won the vast majority of electoral votes outside of the Federalist stronghold of New England. Clinton received six electoral votes for president from his home state of New York. This election was the first of two instances in American history in which a new president was selected but the incumbent vice president won re-election, the other being in 1828.

Nominations Democratic-Republican Party nomination

1808 Democratic-Republican Party Ticket for Presidentfor Vice President 5thU.S. Secretary of State(1801–1809) 4thVice President of the United States(1805–1812)

Presidential candidates James Madison (Virginia), Secretary of State James Monroe (Virginia), Former U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain George Clinton (New York), Vice President of the United States

Vice-presidential candidates George Clinton (New York), Vice President of the United States John Langdon (New Hampshire), Governor Henry Dearborn (Massachusetts), Secretary of War John Quincy Adams (Massachusetts), United States Senator

Caucus

Senator Stephen R. Bradley, who had chaired the congressional nominating caucus during the 1804 presidential election, made a call for the 1808 caucus to the 146 Democratic-Republican members of the United States Congress and Federalist allies. The caucus was attended by 89 to 94 members of Congress.

The caucus was held in January 1808. With the support of outgoing President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison won the presidential nomination over opposing candidates James Monroe and Vice President George Clinton. The caucus voted to give the vice presidential nomination to Clinton over his main opponent John Langdon, although Clinton's supporters believed Clinton would receive the Federalist Party's presidential nomination. The Federalists instead nominated Charles Cotesworth Pinckney that September. A committee of fifteen members was selected to manage Madison's campaign.

Seventeen Democratic-Republicans in Congress opposed Madison's selection and the caucus system whose authority to select presidential and vice-presidential candidates was disputed. Clinton also opposed the caucus system. Monroe, who was supported by dissident and majority leader John Randolph, was nominated by a group of Virginia Democratic-Republicans (Old Republicans), and although he did not actively try to defeat Madison, he also refused to withdraw from the race. Clinton was also supported by a group of New York Democratic-Republicans for president even as he remained the party's official vice presidential candidate.

Balloting Presidential BallotTotalVice Presidential BallotTotalJames Madison83George Clinton79James Monroe3John Langdon5George Clinton3Henry Dearborn3John Quincy Adams1

Federalist Party nomination 1808 Federalist Party Ticket for Presidentfor Vice President 6th U.S. Ministerto France(1796–1797) 3rd U.S. Ministerto Great Britain(1796–1803) The Federalist caucus met in September 1808 and re-nominated the party's 1804 ticket, which consisted of General Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina and former Senator Rufus King of New York. This was the only time in American history that a defeated major party renominated its losing ticket for a second time.

General election Campaign The election was marked by opposition to Jefferson's Embargo Act of 1807, a halt to trade with Europe that disproportionately hurt New England merchants and was perceived as favoring France over Britain. Nonetheless, Jefferson was still very popular with Americans generally and Pinckney was soundly defeated by Madison, though not as badly as in 1804. Pinckney received few electoral votes outside of New England.

Results Pinckney retained the electoral votes of the two states that he carried in 1804 (Connecticut and Delaware), and he also picked up New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and three electoral districts in North Carolina besides the two electoral districts in Maryland that he carried earlier. Except for the North Carolina districts, all of the improvement was in New England.

Monroe won a portion of the popular vote in Virginia and North Carolina, while the New York legislature split its electoral votes between Madison and Clinton.

Source (Popular Vote): A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825 Source (Electoral Vote):

(a) Only 10 of the 17 states chose electors by popular vote. (b) Those states that did choose electors by popular vote had widely varying restrictions on suffrage via property requirements. (c) One Elector from Kentucky did not vote.

Electoral votes by state State Electoralvotes For President For Vice President Connecticut 9 — — 9 — — — — — 9 — Delaware 3 — — 3 — — — — — 3 — Georgia 6 6 — — — 6 — — — — — Kentucky 8 7 — — 1 7 — — — — 1 Maryland 11 9 — 2 — 9 — — — 2 — Massachusetts 19 — — 19 — — — — — 19 — New Hampshire 7 — — 7 — — — — — 7 — New Jersey 8 8 — — — 8 — — — — — New York 19 13 6 — — 13 3 3 — — — North Carolina 14 11 — 3 — 11 — — — 3 — Ohio 3 3 — — — — — — 3 — — Pennsylvania 20 20 — — — 20 — — — — — Rhode Island 4 — — 4 — — — — — 4 — South Carolina 10 10 — — — 10 — — — — — Tennessee 5 5 — — — 5 — — — — — Vermont 6 6 — — — — — — 6 — — Virginia 24 24 — — — 24 — — — — — TOTAL 175 122 6 47 1 113 3 3 9 47 1 TO WIN 89 89

Maps

Popular vote by state The popular vote totals used are the elector from each party with the highest total of votes. The vote totals of Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee appear to be incomplete. +StateJames MadisonDemocratic-RepublicanCharles Cotesworth PinckneyFederalistJames MonroeDemocratic-RepublicanOtherMarginRef#%#%#%#%#% Kentucky 2,679+ 76.89% 54 1.55%No ballots 751 21.56% 1,874 53.78% Maryland 15,336 67.30% 7,433 32.62%No ballots 18 0.08% 7,885 34.60% New Hampshire 12,793 47.59% 14,085 52.40%No ballots 4 0.01% -1,288 -4.8% New Jersey 18,670 55.97% 14,687 44.03%No ballots 3 0.01% 3,980 11.93% North Carolina 9,932+ 52.70% 7,975+ 42.32% 939+ 4.98%No ballots 1,018 5.40% Ohio 3,645 60.82% 1,174 19.59% 1,174 19.59%No ballots 2,471 41.23% Pennsylvania 42,518 78.37% 11,735 21.63%No ballotsNo ballots 30,783 56.74% Rhode Island 2,692 46.70% 3,072 53.30%No ballotsNo ballots -380 -6.60% Tennessee 1,016 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Virginia 15,683 78.62% 761 3.81% 3,505 17.57%No ballots 12,178 61.05%

States that flipped from Democratic-Republican to Federalist Massachusetts New Hampshire Rhode Island

Close states States where the margin of victory was under 5%: New Hampshire, 4.8% (1,288 votes)

States where the margin of victory was under 10%: Rhode Island, 6.6% (380 votes) North Carolina, 5.40% (1,018 votes)

Electoral college selection

See also History of the United States (1789–1849) First inauguration of James Madison 1808–09 United States House of Representatives elections 1808–09 United States Senate elections

Notes

References

Further reading Brant, Irving, "Election of 1808" in Arthur Meier Schlesinger and Fred L. Israel, eds. History of American presidential elections, 1789-1968: Volume 1 (1971) pp 185-249 Carson, David A. "Quiddism and the Reluctant Candidacy of James Monroe in the Election of 1808," Mid-America 1988 70(2): 79–89

External links

Election of 1808 in Counting the Votes Presidential Election of 1808: A Resource Guide from the Library of Congress

A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787-1825